The installation of a spring pad, of a damping bearing and of an additional spring is usually necessary for vibration damping. These components usually consist of microcellular polyurethane and are designed in each case for a specific intended use, produced individually and installed separately in the vehicle. The requirements which the vibration damping components have to meet differ so that they can be realized only in different sections.
The spring elements produced from polyurethane elastomers are used in automobiles, for example inside the chassis, for example those based on resilient plastics, for example rubber or elastomers based on polyisocyanate polyadducts, for example polyurethanes and/or polyureas and are generally known. They are used in particular in motor vehicles as additional springs, impact absorbers or end stops.
The novel spring elements serve, for example, in automotive construction, for supporting the primary springs, for example a steel coil spring, in the region of the chassis. The spring elements can be fastened directly or indirectly to the bodywork, to the axle or to the shock absorber. By means of the spring elements, comfort and safety of the automobiles during travel are increased.
Owing to the very different characteristics and properties of individual automobile models, the spring elements would have to be adapted individually to the various automobile models in order to achieve ideal tailoring to the chassis. For example, in the development of the spring elements, the weight of the vehicle, the chassis of the specific model, the intended shock absorbers, the dimensions of the automobile and its engine power and the desired spring characteristic may be taken into account depending on the desired comfort during travel. In addition, owing to the space availiable as a result of the design of the automobiles, it will be necessary to find individual solutions tailored to the respective automotive design.
For the abovementioned reasons, the known solutions for the design of individual spring elements cannot be applied generally to new automobile models. In every new development of an automobile model it is necessary to develop a novel form of the spring element which meets the specific requirements of the model.
The installation of a spring pad, of a damping bearing and of an additional spring is usually necessary for vibration damping. These components usually consist of microcellular polyurethane and are designed in each case for a specific intended use, produced individually and installed separately in the vehicle. The requirements which said vibration damping components have to meet differ so that they can be realized only in different sections.
For many intended uses, it would be desirable if the components for vibration damping could be produced in one piece.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a spring element for vibration damping in motor vehicles which simultaneously acts as a spring pad, a damping bearing and an additional spring, is formed of one piece and can be produced in one operation.